Sound-emitting device



Patented Mar. 6, 1945 (UNITED;

STATES PATENT SOUND-EMITTING nnvrca 7 Lawrence J. Cooney, Pittsburgh,Pa., assignor, by

* 'o FI-cs? f mesne assignments, to Keystone Signalphone Company, acopartnership composed of Bertha L. Newman, Walter M. Newman, Marian L.Newman, Harvey Morton Aronson, Mildred N. Aronson, and Robert S.Aronson. all of Pittsburgh, Pa., andA. B. Newman, Chicago, Ill.

Application ugust 19, 1942, Serial No. 455,305

. 8 Claims. 101. 116-142) Various types of sound-emitting devicesoperated by fluid pressure havebeen known heretofore, including thatshown in the aforementioned patent, but experience with various types ofsuch devices has revealedcertain objections thereto.

It is the object of the presentinvention to imto and operates at highefficiency so as to produce sound of great intensity with theexpenditure of but little energy.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises an annular chamberopen at one end, with a cover for holding a diaphragm over the open I;end, the cover having a venttherein, an inlet to the chamber for fluidunder pressure, and a flaring bell extending forwardly from the chamberand serving as an outlet for the sound produced. The details ofconstruction and further novel features and advantages ofv the inventionwill be pointed out in the course of the following complete descriptionand explanation which refer to the accompanying drawing illustrating thepreferred embodiment. In the drawing- Figure 1 is a rear elevation ofthe device with the cover removed; v

Figure 2 is an elevation of the cover;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line Ill- 111 ofFigu'reZ showingthe cover in place on the body of the device;

Figure 3A shows a portion of Figure 3 to enlarged scale; and I Figure 4is a transverse section along the plane of line IVIV of Figure 3.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the device comprisesasubstantially cylindrical body In including radially spaced,substantially cylindrical outer and inner walls II and I2. The body isopen at one end. A connecting wall 13 extends between the walls H and 12at the other end. The walls ll, l2 and I3 thus form an annular chamberl4 open at one end. A flaring bell l5 extends from the closed end of thebody l0 and has aminimum diameter at least as great as that of the innerwall 12. The bell flares to a maximum diameter at its outer end abouttwice the axial length thereof, measured from wall l3. The structurethus far described may also-be conceivedof as rmmprisingthe flaring'bell15, the small end [2 of which is substantially cylindrical and hasa-substantially cylindrical outerwall ll spaced radially therefrom and.joined thereto by the connecting wall 13. I

The outer wall II has an enlarged portion l threaded interiorlytoreceivea cover H adapted to be screwed into theopen end of the body.interiorly of the enlarged portion 16, the outer wall I l is providedwith a seat l8. The free end of the inner wall l2, i. e., the end remotefrom the wall l3, projects slightly beyond the seat l8 and lies in aplane parallel to that defined by the seat.

The cover I! has a peripheral shoulder I9 having a step 20 on the outeredge thereof. A vibratile diaphragm 2| is disposed in thestep 20.; Whenthe cover I! is screwed home, the shoulder l9 clamps the edge of thediaphragm 2| against the seat I8. Portions of the diaphragm spacedinwardlyfrom the edge bear on the end of thewall l2. The diaphragm isthereby dished slightly by reason of thefact that the wall l2 projectsslightly beyond the seat I8. For convenience in applying'and removingthe cover ll, it is provided with a boss 22 of hexagon or othernoncircular shape adapted to be engaged by a wrench or other, suitabletool.

The cover I! is provided with a vent 23 in the.

form of a pinhole or capillary passage which may conveniently be drilledcentrally through the cover I and boss 22. .The vent is normally closedby a displaceable closure in the form of a flexible piece oithin metal24 which I term a reed,"se cured to the boss 22 by a screw 25. f T i Aboss 26 is formed on the body I!) and is drilled radially and tapped toreceive a set screw 21. A fiber plug 28 disposed in the screw hole aheadof the screw is adapted to be forced thereby against the threadedperiphery of the cover I! to secure it against unscrewing as the resultof the vibration of the diaphragm 2 l.

A fluid inlet 29 is formed on the body [.0 "and extends laterallytherefrom. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the inlet wall at one side issubstantially tangential to the outer wall I I of the body 10. At theother side, the inlet wall is substantially normal to the outer wall II.By this construction, fluid delivered into the inlet is caused to circlearound the annular chamber 14 in a clock-wise direction as indicated bythe arrows in Figure 4.v

The outer end of the inlet 29 is enlarged and of hexagon or othersuitable shape for the application of a wrench and is tapped to receivea pipe connection 30 from a suitable source of fluid A control valve 3|of'any suitshown in Figure 3.

The device may be operated from any convenient source of fluid underpressure and emits sound of great intensity, viz.,- 109- decibels;-whenher It. It is also effective, of course, to vibrate. the diaphragm 2|,thereby intermittently providing a slight clearance between it and the.free end... of the wall I2. When the fluid is first admitted, to thechamber M, the reed -2t is displaced by the 1 pressure of the fluid,thereby .providingfan open vent and insuring substantially immediatetart ing of the vibration of the diaphrag'mi lAssoon I as the diaphragmstarts vibrating which,espretermined by said shoulder, a diaphragmhaving its edge in engagement. withsaid shoulder and 593s?) havingportions spaced inwardly of the edge in engagement with the free end ofsaid inner wall, and a cover removably disposed in and over- "lying theopen end of the body and serving to clamp the edge of the diaphragmagainst said seat, said outer wall having a fluid inlet formed thereonand extending laterally thereof, one side of said'in'let beingtangential to the outer wall of .the body, and said cover having a ventpassage therethrough.

viously indicated, is substantially ,immediately onzi the admission offluid under pressure, the pressure of the fluid in the vent 23 decreasesand the reed 24 returns to the illustratedposition, thereby preventing acontinuous loss of air through the vent which would lower the efficiencyof the device.

The invention is characterized by numerous advantages over devices'ofthe same general type such as have been known heretofore. In the firstplace, the vent in the cover causes the device to operate positively andto-start immediately, whenever fluid under the necessary pressure issupplied "to the chamber l4. This makes the device suitable for givingcode signals including blasts 'of 'difierent lengths. The device issubstantially non-directional, furthermore, despite the provisionof 'thebell IS. The tangential disposition of the "inlet whereby fluid enteringthe chamber 14 receives a circumferential velocity component "is afurther aid to immediate starting of vibration ofthe diaphragm and alsoimprovesthe efficiency from the standpoint of the intensity of soundemitted and the volume of fluid consumed.

The fact that the minimum diameter of the bell 1-5 is "at least "asgreat as that of "the 'wall 12 provides an unbroken outlet forvibrations and gives a better tone to the sound emitted than acontracted outlet such as that shown in Patent 870,074. The radialarrangement of the set screw 2"! and the provision of the .fiber'block2.8

permits the screw-on cover I! ,to be securely "locked against looseningunder the vibrations of the diaphragm without impartingyany initialdistortion or local deformation to the diaphragm.

When operating, the device emits a penetrating sound which is audibleover great distances, thereby rendering the device particularly useful.asa warning signal for general application. "The .device issimpleiinconstruction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and since thereis only one .moving part, i. e., the diaphragm, there is practically nomaintenance involved.

Although I have illustrated and described a I 2. A sound-emitting deviceadapted to be operated .by fluid pressure comprising an annular chamberincluding spaced, coaxial, substantially cylindrical walls open at oneend, a connecting wall closing the space between the walls at the otherend, a cover removably secured to the open "end-of the body, a diaphragmseatediin the' body at said open end and secured in place by said cover,the inner wall terminating :at such :a :point adjacent :the open end ofthe body as to engage the diaphragm when secured in place by said cover,a fluid inlet formed 'on the 'outer wallof said body, one side of saidinlet being tangential to-said outer wall thereof, anda vent passage insaid cover. v

.3. The apparatus deflned hy claim -2 charac terized by a flaring bellextending outwardly from said connecting wall, the minimum diameter ofsaidbell being at least as great as the diameter of said :innercylindrical wall, said bell flaring at'its end to a diameter about twicethe axial length thereof measured from said connect-. ingwall.

4. The apparatus defined by claim '2 ucharam terized by a flaring bellextending outwardly from said-connecting wall, theminimum diameter ofsaid bell being'the same as the diameter of said inner cylindricalwall.5. The apparatus defined by'cl-aim2'characterized by'a closure for saidvent-adapted tobedispreferred embodiment of the invention, it ,will berecognized that changes in the construction and .arrangementdisclosedmay bemade without departing vfrom the spirit of the invention or thescope of-thaappended claims. .Lclaim: 1. A soundemitting device adaptedto be operated byfluid under pressure, comprising a cylindrical bodyincluding radially spaced .inner and outer substantially cylindricalwalls, a connecting wall between the inner and outer walls at one .end

.a seating shoulder extending around the inside .of the openend of the:outer wall, said inner wall terminatingin :a .iree send adjacent theplane de placed temporarily on the admission of fluid to said'body.

6. 'The apparatus defined -by claim 2 characterized by a flexible reedsecured to the exterior of said cover, overlying said *vent, and adaptedto be displaced temporaTily-omthe admission of fluid to said'body. '7. Asound-emitting device adapted to beeperated by fluid pressure comprisinga flaring bell the small end of which issubstantially-cylindrical, asubstantially cylindrical 'outer wall spaced radially from said end, aconnecting wallbetween the bell and outerwa'll defining therewithan'annular chamber open at one *end, 'a-cover removably disposed in theopen 'end of outer walLa-diaphragm held in the end of the outer wallby-sa'id cover and bearing on said small end oithe bell, a fluid inletformed on said outer wall, one side of" said inlet being tangentialto'said'outer'wall a vent passagein said covenandayieldalble closure forsaid passage.

8. A'sound-emitting device comprising coaxial inner and outercylindrical walls, 'a connecting wall therebetween at one end, adiaphragm overlying the .end of the inner wall opposite that'at whichthe connecting .wa'll iisrlo'cated, s. cover clamping the edge of thediaphragm against-the end of the outer wall, 'and alfluid nlet merginginto the space'between saidinner and outer walls, said inlet beingtangent to the .outer'wall on one side and substantially .normal to theouter wall on the other- I'JOONEY."

